I'm a bit conflicted here. The setting of feudal Japan makes this book really interesting and enjoyable but unfortunately it's executed very poorly. Let me explain with an example: Quote from the book: "She took Kaede across the street from their lodgings to a long, low building with a wooden floor. Here they removed their sandals and put on split-toed boots." How it could've been: She took Kaede across the street from their ryokan to a dojo with a wooden floor. Here they removed their geta/zori and put on jika-tabi." Even if only half of the proper terms are used, it still makes more sense and enriches the atmosphere in the story. But this book fails to name the things by their name and thus put the rich japanese culture and tradition to shame. Which upsets me more than I can put in words. I'm fine with the fact that this is a fictional story in a fictional Japan with a whole different geography. But the japanese traditions and religion are the seasoning that make Across the Nightingale Floor so beautiful. But by concealing the true names of the things, I was a bit confused as a reader and it took me a while to realize that Tekeo uses bunshin-no-jutsu to create clones... Being our main lead, Takeo, is a shinobi in training. His adopted father a shogun beloved by his people, struggling with a secret love, in a country on the brink of war. Shigeru fights with a katana. Takeo is trained in various jutsu, his final mission being the assassination of Shigeru's rival: Iida. I liked: + the setting + the attempt to write strong females + same sex love (even if it's misplaced in that setting and doesn't add to the autheticity of the story) I didn't like: + the lovestory was just weird + the dialogues are kind of detached from the rest of the writing + the ending was rushed + the second POV was pointless And that Nightingale floor! It's your bloody book title. Do something with it! Hearn spent so much time on building characters and telling us about details that were discarded in the blink of an eye by the end or didn't even play that big of a role compared to the attention it got.Why go through the trouble at all? I'm a bit disappointed and don't understand why there are two other books but may took a look at them.

There are certain books which have an intricate story, fast-paced, with a fascinating plot but then was I retaining of that? Was I understanding anything? Nah. In the first 3 pages along, we get to meet the character, know a bit about his childhood and we are expected to empathize with them the rest of the book because the village was blown up? How? I was just not able to connect with the story or the characters :(